


Colorblind

by rainingstars_midnightskies



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Angst, Lots of Angst, M/M, Pianist!Green, Prodigy!Red, Red talks but not much, That'll be relevant later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-14 13:10:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7173116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainingstars_midnightskies/pseuds/rainingstars_midnightskies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*****Currently on hiatus, unlikely to be continued in the near future.*****<br/>Red decides that he's had about enough of training on Mount Silver, and descends the mountain in order to restart his life. Old feelings and friendships reawaken, as do conflicts—how will Red resume the life he left behind after three years of isolation? NamelessShipping, Pianist!Green, Prodigy!Red.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Decision and Descent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Red decides to finally get off that damn mountain

The never-ending blizzard swirled around the boy’s slim figure, around his bony, bare arms exposed by the short-sleeved shirt he wore. Every Trainer who had ever come to challenge him found it hard to believe that he’d survived such cold temperatures, and that he was still surviving them even as they spoke.

His family and friends had long since stopped contacting him; it was always so hard for them to come up to the mountain that they had simply abandoned the cause.

A shaft of sunlight burst out suddenly, illuminating his red eyes. Sunlight was rare. Unseen during a blizzard. He’d vowed once that if he ever saw sunlight during a blizzard, he would go down the mountain, because that meant he’d spent too much time up there.

 _Well_ , he thought, staring out at the beam of pale light, _it’s time…_

_Time to become Red again._

°º°º°º°º°º°

It had been a long time since Red had been to the base of the mountain - he descended to the lowest parts of the upper half of it to bathe and find food every day, but he’d never gone lower than that.

He emerged from the cave entrance at the bottom, and shielded his eyes from the sun - it was almost always dark at the summit. It was also much warmer down here, and snow hardly ever fell at the base.

Red looked up at the sky. Vast, vivid, boundless, _blue_. The trees and grass were bright green, almost unnaturally so. After years of nothing but snow, he felt as though he was in a completely alien world.

Red was suddenly reminded of something, looking at the color of the plants around him.

_Pleading eyes, as vivid green as spring leaves._

He walked to his right, towards the stairs leading down to Route 28, and finally reached the Pokémon League Reception Gate. He stepped in through the door, and the guards turned around. One of them had been holding a pen that he was writing on a notepad with. The pen was now on the floor.

“Champion Red?” whispered another guard in awe.

Red doffed his cap with a slight grin.

The guard with the pen smiled. “Welcome back.”

“Thank you,” said Red. It was the most he’d spoken to another person in over three years.

He continued into the center of the gate, and looked at the three options he had.

1\. Continue into Victory Road, to the Pokémon League, and challenge it.

No, he wanted to see places, not battle. He’d had enough of training for a while.

2\. Go all the way down through Routes 26 and 27, to New Bark Town in Johto.

Eh…he wanted to see more people as soon as he could, and Routes 26 and 27 would take at least an hour to traverse with his rusty memory.

3\. Route 22. To Viridian City, where…

Red smiled. His choice was obvious.

He walked forward.

_Viridian City._


	2. Memories and Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Green and Red meet for the first time in years and Green throws a tantrum

As Red entered the city and approached the gym, he heard music, echoing beautifully through the air. It was a classical piece, and he was sure he had heard it before, though he didn’t know where…

Then he remembered, and a rush of memories overwhelmed him.

_“Oi, Green!” the ten-year-old boy shouted through the window. “You wanna go train with our Pokémon?”_

_“Not now,” replied the other boy, spiky brown hair falling over his face as he bent over a book of sheet music._

_“Why?” whined the raven-haired male. “You’re so busy lately!”_

_“I’m learning a song,” said Green, walking over to the window and then beginning to close it._

_Red, disappointed, shouted, “You’re always playing a song! Why?”_

_“Because I need to,” was his enigmatic reply as the window clicked shut._

_Red went off, sulking._

It was Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. How could he have forgotten?

Red walked towards the source of the music - it was a small building that said _Schmidt’s Piano_ on the front. He pushed open the glass door. The raised lid of a grand piano blocked his view of who was playing, but there was no doubt in his mind. That style of playing, the delicate tapping of the keys as if to lull one to sleep, so unlike his personality, could only belong to one person.

Red walked around the side of the piano.

There he was, in all his music-making splendor - spiky brown hair falling low over green eyes that focused on the keys as if they were the only things in the world. His fingers seemed to dance as the piece sped up, pouring all the tension, sadness, and anger it was possible for one to feel into the notes.

The song swirled around Red in a colorful, bright staff of notes, as it always had, ever since he was young. His mother had called it ‘synesthesia,’ but he didn’t think such a plain-sounding name could fit what he saw. Twisting spirals, all a different texture, in vivid colors that no one else could see. 

As the threads of colorful sound wove together to an end, the green eyes closed, and his hands withdrew from the keys. They fell to his sides as he sighed, a sound with a certain finality to it. Red didn’t want to pull him out of his trance, but emerald eyes looked up at him—and focused with a snap. The boy was so surprised that the piano bench tipped back, and just as his head was about to hit the ground, Red reached out and grabbed his hand, suspending him in the air above the fallen bench.

“Are you okay?”

The boy opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He looked as though he had seen a ghost - and in a way, he had, hadn’t he?

“Red?” It was a whisper, barely audible but still there, like a wisp of cloud in an otherwise clear sky.

“Green,” said Red, a smile playing about his lips.

Green got to his feet, and stared at him for a few seconds, then pulled him into a hug that Red was sure would kill him.

“Can’t breathe,” he gasped as the brunet’s arms wrapped around him.

Green’s eyes were still wide, and he breathed deeply a couple of times before completely collapsing against Red in a mess of tears and spiky hair.

Red, surprised, let Green fall against him - the latter was shaking slightly as tears forced their way from his eyes. He’d never seen the boy cry before, and quite honestly it frightened him.

“Are you okay?” Red asked again.

Green looked at him, eyes still glistening. “You idiot, how can I be okay?” His arms wrapped around Red again, and this time Red hugged back.

A wave of nostalgia overcame him - disjointed memories flooded his mind, and Red’s heart began to ache in a rather strange way. Soon he himself felt tears pricking at his eyes, and buried his face in Green’s hair, feeling the boy’s warmth against him.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they pulled apart, and looked at each other.

“I thought you were dead,” said Green, wiping his eyes. “Everyone said you were suicidal. They thought you’d decided to kill yourself by going up there.”

“Why?” Red was puzzled. How could anyone think that? He’d just gone up to train.

“Three _years_ , Red. Three years, with not a word of news, and you’d gone up to the second-tallest mountain in the world. It’s natural that people would assume that.”

Red stared at his feet.

“You don’t talk much anymore, do you?”

The question surprised him, and he looked up. “Never needed to.”

Green let out a quiet laugh. “I remember when we were little, you used to be a noisy little shit. I would get tired of you and call you some name and run off.”

“I remember that,” Red smiled, a little hint of wry humor in his expression.

Green seemed to remember something, and he pulled Red over to the piano. “Play something.”

“Why?”

“You’re a 'prodigy' for a reason. Besides, I’ve lost my motivation.”

“Okay,” Red sighed. “I’m a bit rusty.”

“Just play,” groaned Green. “I haven’t heard you play in over three years!”

Red placed his fingers on the keys. He hadn’t learned how to play properly, but from the moment he’d touched the keys for the first time, Green had decided to beat him by learning all the sheet music it was possible to learn.

Red didn’t like sheet music. It was flat and cold and didn’t even try to capture the beautiful sound that came out of it.

He began to play a slow piece that he had loved in his childhood.

And when Green's posture tensed and his teeth clenched, Red seemed to not notice, lost in the world of soft blue darkness and sound.

“Okay, stop it,” said Green. “Stop.”

With a snap, Red felt himself pulled back to reality. “Why?”

Green sat down on a nearby bench and slammed his fists into the wood. “Dammit! Three years, and you still…you still get it!”

“Get what?”

“That…whatever the hell it is you do. I can’t do it! I can’t play like that!”

“Green—”

“Shut up! Shut up! I never should have let you play!”

Red stood up and walked to the shaking boy, then grabbed his shoulders.

Green pushed him away. “What do you want?”

“If…If you don’t want me here…I’ll go back.”

Green’s eyes widened and he seemed to realize what he had been saying. “Red…”

The boy in question shook his head. “I’ll go somewhere else.”

“No…no, don’t do that. I…”

Red gazed at him calmly.

“I was…you’re too good at this. I can’t measure up to you.”

“I don’t want to play.”

“What?”

Red turned away.

“Why? Why would you quit?”

“You feel bad,” stated the raven-haired boy, exiting the shop.

Green stared after him, speechless.

 _I’m such an idiot_ , he thought, standing up and running after his childhood friend.


	3. Conflict and Comprehension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Red falls out of a tree and is afraid

On his way out of the city, Red spotted the Viridian Gym—it had been fully renovated, by the looks of it, but right now it was closed. A sign on the door read,  _ Gym Leader Out—Come Back Tomorrow! _

_ Who’s the leader? _ Red wondered as he passed the Gym.

“Red! Wait!”

_ No, leave me alone, _ thought Red as he started running, around the corner of the gym and into a thick stand of trees.  _ Why are you following me? _

“Red! Please, please wait!”

He shrank further back into the foliage, unwilling to reveal himself as Green tore around the corner and glanced wildly about.

“Hey,” said a soft voice behind him. “What’re you doing here, Red?”

Red’s eyes widened and he turned silently.

There was a girl standing there, a little shorter than he was—brown hair framed her heart-shaped face, and blue eyes looked up at him curiously. 

_ Blue—! _

He put a finger to his lips, but she just gave him a wicked grin and shouted, “Green!”  
Red cursed mentally and took off in the opposite direction, further into the thick forest that lay behind the Gym.

_ Why is Green after me? I hurt his feelings, didn’t I? Made him feel inferior when he’s is really far better than I could ever be. How can Green be so forgiving and chase after the person who did something like that? _

(As seen here, Red talked a lot more in his head than he did out loud.)

“Blue,” came Green’s voice from far away, “did you see where he went?”

“That way.”

Red turned and scaled the tree, climbing quietly into its upper branches and perching there.

_ And then there’s Blue. The girl I grew up with, the one who was always like a sister to me. Why is she here of all places? And why is she helping Green when she used to hate him so much? _

A sudden thought struck Red, but he shook his head to get rid of it.  _ Not possible. _

…Were Green and Blue…together?

The very concept sent a painful twinge into Red’s chest for some reason.

“Red!” shouted Green, coming into view with Blue behind him. 

His gaze seemed to be directed only at his eye level, and so Red heaved a sigh of relief—and lost his balance on the branch.

_ Nononononono! _

He flailed out with his left hand in an attempt to break his fall, but the branches simply whipped past his fingertips and Red realized he was not going to escape this.

He landed hard on the damp, hard-packed dirt of the forest floor, and as he lay there, he saw Green’s face, on the verge of panic, come into view as soft hands checked his back and chest for injuries.

_ Can’t…breathe… _

The male said something Red couldn’t hear, but by then the raven-haired boy was too far gone to regain consciousness.

The last thing he felt was himself being lifted in the air and carried, with his arms wrapped around someone’s shoulders.

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

“Red…hey, wake up.”

The voice was exhausted, on the verge of dropping off to sleep.

Red opened his eyes slowly. The room was dim, and someone’s hand was on his left shoulder. 

He turned his head to the right, and saw that Green was resting his head on the edge of the couch, utterly worn out.

Red raised his hand quietly and ran it through Green’s hair.

He’d wanted to do that for so long. To just know what it felt like to run his hand through the boy’s brown spikes, to be quiet and peaceful along with Green’s presence next to him.

The latter looked up sleepily, then smiled. “Hi, Red.”

Noticing Red’s hand in his hair, Green froze up for a second, and the former quickly withdrew his hand, turning his face away.

_ That wasn’t supposed to happen… _

Without warning, however, Red felt an answering set of fingers in his own black locks, and immediately his heart sped up a little as his face tingled with a slight blush.

Their eyes met.

After a few moments, Green broke the silence, mumbling, “It’s late. We should sleep.”

Red nodded.

“You want the bed? I can take the couch.”

Before Red could respond, there was a loud rumbling from outside and Green stumbled sleepily to the window, looking out.

He drew a breath. “Thunderstorm.”

That was odd. Thunderstorms  _ never _ came to this part of Kanto.

Red immediately stiffened in fear.

Green turned around just as another roll of thunder swept over the room, and Red curled into a ball, burying his head in the soft material of the couch.

“Oi,” said Green.

The boy didn’t respond.

“Red.”

Still nothing.

Green walked back to the couch and grabbed Red’s shoulders.

“Red, look at me.”

The boy’s face was pale, red eyes wide.

He was  _ frightened. _

Green had only seen him like this once, when Team Rocket had tried to take away his Pokémon, and that was when they were about twelve—Red had fought through the ranks of the entire organization, and eventually defeated the leader, Giovanni, himself. It was incredible. Immediately afterwards, he had conquered all the Gyms, and become Champion of the Indigo League, defeating Green  _ exactly fifteen minutes _ after the latter beat the League.

And right after seeing the look on Green’s face, Red had retreated into himself, climbing Mount Silver and disappearing for three years.

Now…now he was back to how he started. Panicked, wild-eyed and afraid. 

Green pulled him up to his feet and swept him into a hug.

Red, shaking, dug his fingers into the material of Green’s shirt, as though the male was his only connection to the world and by letting go he would be lost to the stormy skies.

“Red,” said Green. “Listen to me.”

Red nodded, squeezing his eyes shut to stop the tears.

“You and I will sleep in the same bed. Otherwise you’re going to have another panic attack.”

Green fervently hoped that Red wouldn’t lapse into another one now. The latter’d had so many as a child, just turning into a nervous wreck for no apparent reason. He had finally gotten over it when he battled Team Rocket, finding his solace in combat, but now there was a chance he might fall back into the same mire that he had been in before.

“Okay,” whispered Red, and he sounded so small and timid that it took all of Green’s willpower not to run outside and command his Blastoise to stop the thunderstorm somehow. 

_ It won’t work anyway, _ reasoned Green.  _ Pokémon can’t stop weather. _

He lent Red a set of pajamas and both of them climbed under the covers—suddenly the lights flickered off as yet another thunderclap echoed around the town.

Red shuddered, and Green turned to face him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“Red—”

Before he could say anything, Red’s arms had wrapped around him and he was burying his face in Green’s chest, shivering.

Feeling his face heat up, Green lay there, not knowing how to react.

Within a few minutes, Red was asleep, breathing slowly and tensing up a little every time Green moved.

_ He’s been so lonely for three years, _ thought Green.  _ No one to care for him, and he stayed up there, waiting for people to care about him enough to climb all the way up the mountain to see him. He was trying to get them to validate their love for him. And even then, nobody got the message. People moved on. His own mother moved on. _

_ I moved on. _

_ I’ve been a terrible rival and a terrible friend. I should’ve gone up there every week to challenge him, but instead I decided to go with the media and become a Gym Leader instead. What was wrong with me? I missed him so much, but I was never there for him. _

With thoughts swirling in his mind, Green let himself drift off to sleep, vowing to make things better the next day.


	4. Battle and Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Green is a morning person  
> also, the first attack

Red woke with a start to the shrill screech of an alarm clock, and Green leapt out of bed, jumping into the bathroom to brush his teeth and quickly pulling on a white collared shirt, brown pants, and a gray jacket.

“Oi, wake up,” he called, taking Red by the wrists and pulling him upright.

“Tiiiirrreeeedddd,” groaned the boy, slumping forward. “What time is it?”  
“6 o’clock in the morning,” announced Green proudly. “If you don’t get in the shower right now, I’m going to leave you here, because I have to be out by 6:30. We’ll eat when we get there.”

“Fine,” mumbled Red, slipping out of bed and into the shower.

The warm water was comforting, and Red spent a full ten minutes enjoying it, before coming out to see a fluffy towel and neatly folded clothes waiting for him.

He smiled and pulled the clothes on, drying off his newly washed black hair and running a comb through it before putting on his usual red cap and shoes, and walking out the door.

“Hi,” said Green. “Let’s go.”

Red nodded and followed him out of the apartment, down the quiet street where the complex was located, and finally out onto the main road, where they walked the way that Red had gone the previous day—towards the Gym.

“Where are—” began Red, but Green turned around and shook his head in disbelief. 

“You _still_ don’t know?”  
“What?”

From his jacket pocket, Green produced his Pokédex, hit the ID button, and handed it to Red.

_ Name: Green Oak _

_ Title: Viridian City Gym Leader _

_ Hair: Brown _

_ Eyes: Green _

_ Time Since Certification: Two Years, Three Months, and Five Days _

_ If the holder of this Pokédex does not match the provided picture, please contact the police immediately. _

Red’s eyes widened as he scanned the description.

“That’s right,” smirked Green. “I’m the Gym Leader. Too bad you were too busy sitting around on Mount Silver to notice.”

Red looked up suddenly. This was the Green he knew, not the sobbing mess he’d met at the piano store.

“Hurry up,” said the latter, who was now at least fifty feet ahead of Red. “I’m going to be late.”

Red began to run, and they reached the Gym within a minute.

Green immediately stopped at the entrance.

“What’s wrong?” asked Red.

“Something’s off about the place,” murmured Green, taking a Poké Ball from his belt.

Before he could send out the Pokémon inside, the doors burst open, and Red and Green were dragged inside. Syringes flashed in the air, and before either of the boys could react, they were drugged and thrown inside the Gym. A low growl from where the boys had been tossed caused the assailants to flee from the Gym as quickly as they could, locking the heavy steel doors while they were at it.

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Blue, having just woken up, yawned and got dressed before heading out to the Gym, where she was a Third Level Gym Trainer—which basically meant that she was the last out of them, being an extraordinarily strong trainer close to Green’s level but not quite there. She had the job of sending only the cream of the crop to challenge Green, while eliminating all the rest.

When she reached the Gym, however, there was a crowd of police surrounding it, trying to break down the door.

_ Dammit, what’s happened? _ she thought, running for the door.

An officer turned around, pistol drawn. “Who are you?”

Blue put her hands up. “Blue. I’m the Third Level Gym Trainer here. Here’s my ID—”

She fished the Pokédex out of her pocket and handed it to the officer, who examined the ID section and then nodded. 

“The Supreme Union decided to take a potshot at Green and another boy, I don’t know who by his voice. They’re both trapped in there.”

“The Supreme Union…” Blue’s eyes widened, and she cursed, running up to the door and calling out her Ponyta.

“Melt the doors,” she commanded, and immediately a jet of flame burst from the Pokémon’s mane.

Nothing happened. The doors remained intact, despite the temperature being close to 3000° Fahrenheit.

Blue cursed again. “What the hell’s protecting the doors?”

The officer looked guilty. “The TSU grunts left a Protect seal around the door…”

“Then you should’ve told me!” Blue snapped, exasperated. “What did the TSU leave in there with Green and Red?”

“Red?” The officer’s eyes widened. “That was Red?”

“Yeah, it was. Now tell me what they left in there!”  
“I-it sounded like a Legendary Pokémon,” mumbled the officer, shrinking away.

Blue turned abruptly and tore off in the direction of the Pokémon Center.

At the PC, she immediately withdrew a Pokémon she had caught on her journey, before deciding to take Green’s job offer.

“It’s time for you to save more people,” she whispered, “Dragonair.”

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Running back to the Gym, she threw the Poké Ball in the air, and shouted, “Draco Meteor!”

The Gym was bombarded with huge pieces of glowing meteors, and soon one of them shattered the Protect barrier.

“Stand back, everyone! Fire Blast!”  
The doors were melted within five seconds due to the intense temperature, and then once Ice Beam was used to cool the area down, Blue rushed inside.

Green and Red were lying against opposite walls, barely conscious—they were both covered in bruises and cuts, and the interior of the Gym had been completely demolished, with the movement tiles broken apart and thrown to different parts of the Gym, creating jagged, sharp obstacles leaving no room to walk safely. The steel beams on the walls had been partially melted, and broken glass from the windows lay everywhere.

And in the center was a Pokémon that Blue recognized instantly.

“Mewtwo,” she whispered.

The creature’s eyes were glowing bright red, unnaturally so. It seemed possessed, almost.

Green, at the right wall, stirred, and when Mewtwo spotted the movement, it leapt over to Green and immediately aimed an attack at him.

Blue recognized that attack instantly. 

Psychic.

Which meant that Mewtwo was breaking his mind, slowly but surely.

“Green!” she shouted, sprinting over. “Green, get up! Dragonair, Dragon Pulse!”

Her Pokémon immediately obeyed, sending a powerful blast of energy at Mewtwo. The latter flew back, but righted itself and growled as Dragonair flew straight at it in an attempt to protect Blue.

Green’s emerald eyes were glassy and unfocused, and paramedics rushed in, loading the boy on a stretcher while another set of them aimed to save Red.

They didn’t get there.

Mewtwo knocked the second set of paramedics aside with a sweep of its arm, and Green caught Blue’s wrist with the last of his strength.

Blue looked at him. “What?”

“Save…Red.” The words were slurred and quiet, and Blue had to strain to hear them—the boy’s hand slipped and fell limp as soon as he said them.

Blue’s eyes widened and she nodded, sprinting across the Gym and leaping over broken, jagged tiles as Mewtwo advanced behind her.

She cursed, and Dragonair began shooting powerful attacks at Mewtwo, distracting it while Blue got Red awake.

“Red, come on, you can do this, stand up,” she pleaded, all the while helping the barely-awake boy to his feet.

Pika, also in the same state as Red, stumbled and fell against Blue’s feet—she leaned down and scooped up the tiny creature, placing it on her shoulder as she and Red walked slowly through the rubble to the entrance of the Gym.

Outside, Blue left Red and Pika in the care of the paramedics, who instantly put them as well as Green in an ambulance and rushed away, siren wailing all the while.

“Dragonair!” called Blue, running back inside the Gym. “Are you o—”

She didn’t finish her sentence, because Mewtwo punched her into a wall.

She slid to the floor with a soft groan, and pushed herself up to her feet again, calling out her Blastoise and shouting, “Hydro Cannon!”

As the attack fired, Blue looked around, and spotted Dragonair on the ground, in a faint.

She cursed, pulling a Max Revive from her bag and healing the Pokémon, then yelling to Blastoise, “One more Hydro Cannon, then get out of here!”  
The attack fired, and Blue and her Pokémon sprinted out of the Gym, Dragonair sealing up the entrance behind them.

Blue suddenly felt a sharp pang in her arm, and when she looked down, she saw a fragment of glass embedded just below her shoulder. There was a long rivulet of blood dripping onto the ground.

A paramedic immediately approached and carefully removed the glass, then called out Chansey from a Poké Ball and asked it to use Heal Pulse—instantly, the wound sealed up, and a tiny glass fragment shot out and landed in the grass.

“Thanks,” Blue said, and looked back at the Gym—evidently normal battling wouldn’t resume for a while.

And then the world spun and she collapsed, her consciousness fading as she was loaded onto a stretcher as well.


	5. Explanation and Embrace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Red and Green sneak out of hospital and hug each other

“Red,” someone whispered.

He felt the pain then, the incredible pain. Bruises covered his body, and he wanted nothing more than to escape back into the darkness.

“Red, you awake…?”

The voice was tired, pained. 

Red cracked an eye open, then the other upon realizing that the place was dark.

Turning his head to the right, he saw that the source of the voice was Green, looking just as beaten up as he felt, and whose green eyes were half-closed, gazing at him.

Upon seeing him awake, Green let out a sigh.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” said Red.

“You feel okay?”

“No,” said Red simply.

“Yeah, same. This sucks. What did we even do to the stupid—”

Green’s eyes widened as the realization sank in. “That was the Supreme Union, wasn’t it?”

“What’s that?” yawned Red, wincing as the bruises on his face were stretched by the movement.

“The Supreme Union. You’ve really been out of touch, haven’t you? A couple months ago, all the villainous teams from the regions other than Kalos joined together to form the Supreme Union. Rocket, Aqua, Magma, Galactic, and Plasma.”

Red’s eyes widened. “Plasma?”

“From Unova. Y’know, the region that joined the Unified Regional Committee a couple years back?”

Red shook his head.

Green rolled his eyes. “You should’ve come down more often. Arceus, you’re  _ really  _ behind the times, aren’t you?”

Red’s cheeks adopted the color of his namesake and he turned away, a bit miffed. 

“Anyway, all that was a couple years ago, like I said. So we have five villainous teams, all joined together in the Supreme Union.”

Red was curious about one thing. “Aqua and Magma joined together?”

Green smirked. “Now you’re talking. Looks like your brain decided to return after all. Yeah, Aqua and Magma fought for a while, but eventually they came to a compromise after a few months.”

“How do you know?” Red asked.

“I have an informant in there. Being the final Gym Leader in Kanto, I hold a pretty important position in government, so I kind of double as a secret agent of sorts when worst comes to worst. I manage all the spies that are inside the TSU.”

Red wondered what it would be like if Green were an actual spy. Shades, fancy suit and car, the full regalia.

The image brought a mischievous smile to his face. 

“What’s so funny?” muttered Green suspiciously.

Red looked at him and the smile widened. “Nothing.”

“Y’know,” said Green even more suspiciously, “you’re weird.”

Red nodded.

Green sighed. “Just go to sleep already. It’s 1 AM and I need to get out there as soon as possible tomorrow.”

“Okay,” said Red, turning to face the wall and trying to sleep.

…It didn’t work.

After a few minutes, Red felt someone poke his back, and he turned to see Green.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked, and Red nodded.

Green just grimaced. “I guess we’ve slept enough for today already. Wanna get out of here?”

Red grinned again and sat up, getting out of bed—and then promptly collapsing.

Green caught him before he could hit the ground, and the boy looked up apologetically.

“You know what, we can do this in the morning,” said Green, but Red immediately shook his head.

“I’m okay. Let’s go.”

“If you say so,” Green muttered, unconvinced. “I don’t want you to faint and then just be dead weight, okay? If you don’t think you can make it out, then just tell me.”   


Red nodded, and stood up again, forcing himself to stay upright.

Together, they walked out of the hospital room.

At the lobby of the hospital, which also served as a Pokémon Center, the boys found themselves stumped.

Identical Poké Balls lined the walls in every direction, and the labels were random mixes of numbers and letters, confusing them utterly.

“This  _ sucks _ ,” declared Green quietly. “All that and we can’t find our own Pokémon?”

Red had an idea.

Quietly, he whispered, “Pika.”

Immediately, one Poké Ball began to rattle, and then Pika emerged, bounding over to him with a happy cry. 

Red put a finger to his lips.

Green whispered, “Can you find my Pokémon? Red’s too.”

Pika nodded and sniffed Green a couple of times, then ran around the room, jumping up and tapping the Poké Balls which it recognized.

Green’s Pokémon all ran over to him, knocking the poor boy to the ground with their enthusiastic greetings.

Red’s, on the other hand, walked over to him and simply nuzzled him quietly—the boy responded with scratches behind the ears, which caused them all to growl happily.

“Hey, hey, calm down,” protested Green, and his Pokémon backed away. 

He walked around the circular room and collected their Poké Balls, then headed back, and the two of them walked out of the hospital, back into Viridian City.

“Where d’you want to go?” asked Green.

Red shrugged.

“Apartment?”

He shook his head.

Green looked at him exasperatedly. “At least tell me.”

“…Fly?”

The brown-haired boy’s face lit up. “On Charizard?”

Red smiled and nodded, pulling out his Poké Ball and sending it out.

_ “Fly,”  _ Red whispered, and as Green climbed behind him, the Pokémon took off.

Green let out a yelp as he was sent tumbling off—and then a pleasantly cold hand caught him by the wrist, pulling him up and safely back onto Charizard.

Red, smiling, let go of his wrist once he was safely situated. 

Green looked at him, eyes wide, and then smiled back, his expression wonderstruck.

“Hold on,” said Red softly, and Green barely had time to wrap his arms around the boy’s waist before they were flying sideways.

The world was divided into two halves—one bright with city lights and one dark, lit only by the tiniest pinpricks of stars. 

And then they flipped another 90 degrees, and Red and Green were upside down.

The ground below them was brightly lit, and a highway twisted through the land like a shimmering necklace. Green watched spellbound as they passed over it.

After a few seconds, Charizard rotated so that they were flying normally again—both the boys let out a sigh, and then laughed.

“Red,” said Green.

The raven-haired boy twisted around to look at him.

“Thank you.”

The red eyes widened, as though asking what for.

“For coming back,” elaborated Green, smiling slightly.

Red abruptly turned back around, and began to wipe at his eyes.

“Are you…crying?” Green began to panic.

But before he could get very far with said panic, Red flipped himself around so he was facing Green and embraced him.

Green’s face heated up as he returned the embrace, and despite the bruises, the two of them were smiling. 

And that moment, to both Red and Green, seemed to last an eternity.


	6. Reprimand and Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Red and Green get in trouble and Gold shows up

~ _ Inside TSU HQ~ _

A man with a shock of black hair spun around and around in his swivel chair, extraordinarily bored—his fingers drummed on the armrest in a rhythmic fashion, and he just  _ could not stop fidgeting. _

__ It was getting on his  _ own _ nerves.

Suddenly a group of Grunts, with their dyed blonde hair and black uniforms, burst in through the doors of the massive room—the bored man stood up, addressing them as he spoke.

“Did anything interesting happen out there?”

One Grunt, a bit taller and a bit more human than the rest, stepped forward. “Yes. We seem to have found Pokémon Master Red.”   
The man’s green eyes widened fractionally for a second, but then reverted to their usual heavy-lidded state. “How?”

“The robotic Mewtwo we placed in the Gym got immediate results. Leader Green was with Red when he arrived in the morning, so when we injected the trackers, we got important data on both of them. Getting rid of them should be easy enough now.”

“Show me the scans.”

The Grunt handed a sheaf of papers to the bored man, who read over each of them as his eyes widened more and more—this was especially uncharacteristic of him, since his usual expression was that of a statue.

Finally, he looked up, green irises blazing with excitement for the first time in ten years. 

“Find their weaknesses now!”   
“Yes, sir!” A frantic salute, and then the Grunts rushed out as the man sank back into his swivel chair, clearly in a state of euphoria. 

He smiled.  _ This will be interesting. _

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Red and Green had been flying for a while now—the sun was rising, but they weren’t even the slightest bit tired. 

Suddenly Green’s Pokégear began to ring, and he answered it—immediately, a loud scream issued from the speaker, causing the boy to jerk the Pokégear away from his ear and wince.

Red gave him a questioning look. 

“Blue,” mouthed Green.

_ “Where the hell have you both gone?” _ shouted Blue.  _ “They’re sending out search parties for you!” _

Red put a palm to his forehead. “Should’ve thought of that.”

“Well, tell them we’re fine,” snapped Green angrily. “We needed to get out of there for a bit.”

_ “I can’t just go tell them that! Talk to them yourself!” _

Before Green could react, a man’s voice issued through the speaker, much calmer than Blue’s. “Is this Leader Green?”

“Yeah,” muttered Green, sulking.

“Where are you?”

“With Red.”

“What is your location?”

“Uh…” Green looked around. “Somewhere over Route 9. Why?”

“You can’t simply leave like that. The police will be fining you for this, you know.”   
“What a pain,” muttered Green. “Why’d you all get so worried anyway? Can’t I go anywhere on my own?”

“Not from hospital!” snapped the man. “Are you crazy?”

“Okay, fine, I get it. Hold on.”   
Green pulled out a Technical Machine. 

_ TM30, _ it read. The cover was completely obsolete, being the same type of TM cover from when Red and Green had first started their journey.

“Is that…”

“Teleport,” finished Green. “I knew I would need it at some point, so it’s always been just sitting in my bag. I hope it still works.”

Pulling out the unused pink disc inside, he held it to Exeggutor’s Poké Ball—it began to glow, and a small screen popped up in the air.  _ Forget a move? _

Green picked one of the moves and hit  _ Forget, _ and with a bright flash of light the screen disappeared.

“Exeggutor, use Teleport,” muttered Green disinterestedly, and there was a sudden, sharp jolt.

Red blinked a few times to rid his eyes of the stars and then realized they were sitting in front of the Viridian Gym.

Wait…the  _ gym? _

The building looked as though nothing had happened to it—even the inside was fully repaired, and there wasn’t a scratch on its surface.

Green stared at it. “Wow. Probably used Heal Pulse or something…?”

Red just nodded.

They both stood, and as soon as Green entered the Gym, a commotion erupted.

“Where have you been—”

“You idiot, we were so worried—”

“There are so many Trainers waiting—”

The overlapping voices were so overwhelming that Red just couldn’t take it anymore—there were at least twenty people clamoring for attention from Green, who was himself quite taken aback by the amount of noise.

“Shut  _ up _ !” shouted Green, noticing Red’s discomfort.

They shut up.

“Look,” he continued, “I get that you were worried, and everything. But you  _ know _ me. You saw that my Pokémon were gone, right?”

“Yeah, but—”   
“Still—”

Green shot the whole crowd a deadly glare, making them abruptly cease their chatter for the second time.

“If my Pokémon were gone, and so were Red and I, then your first logical assumption should be that I left the place. If I don’t report back within 24 hours,  _ then _ you start getting worried.”

“Okay,” murmured the crowd, and Green looked satisfied. 

“Now we’ll get back to normal Gym duty.”

The Gym Trainers immediately took their positions, and Green gave his Gym Leader speech—the young Trainers at the entrance were positively jumping with excitement by the time he finished. Red caught exclamations of “He’s so  _ cool! _ ” from at least ten of them while they were lining up at the front of the Gym.

Red went inside and watched the youngsters battle, occasionally cracking a smile at their energy and enthusiasm, but only three of the massive crowd made it to Blue.

And then Blue beat two of them.

The last was a boy with black hair and golden eyes, wearing a cap with an Ultra Ball design.

“Oi, Green!” he called as he approached the Leader. “You ready? I’m a lot stronger now!”   
“Let’s see,” was all that Green said—rather, smirked—to this, and the battle began.

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

The battle didn’t take long to finish—Green wasn’t quite in top form, so Gold knocked out his Pokémon quite easily.

“YES!” he shouted as soon as he OHKO’d Green’s Pidgeot—it let out a feeble squawk and then keeled over. 

Green returned it to its Poké Ball, rubbing his forehead—there was a headache brewing in his skull, and he wasn’t about to let it get any worse if he could help it.

Unfortunately, the masses of Trainers demanding a rematch were growing ever louder, so it was Red’s turn to help Green escape.

Quietly, Red tugged on the Gym Leader’s sleeve, pulling him to the back door and nudging him out…rather,  _ in _ , since there was another room behind it.

As he shut the door and locked it, Green murmured a thanks, sinking into a plush armchair. “Can you give me the ibuprofen?”

Red looked at the shelf of medicine blankly. All the containers looked the same…wait, why were there so many containers?   
“Green,” he said. “Why so much medicine?”   
“Migraines,” muttered Green. “Second shelf, third bottle from the left.”

Red found the bottle and handed it to him.

“Water.”

He grabbed a bottle of water sitting on a table and handed that to Green, too.

With a swig of water, Green downed two pills and gave the medicine back to Red. “Thanks.”

After two minutes of taking deep breaths, Green looked back at Red. “So, your question.”

Red nodded.

“I have severe anemia and sinus tachycardia,” said Green.

Red looked puzzled.

“Basically,” he continued, “I don’t have enough red blood cells, so I have to take a bunch of supplements and get blood transfusions every so often, because my body can’t produce enough cells on its own. If I don’t take these medicines, I’ll probably die.”

Red’s eyes widened. 

“And the sinus tachycardia means that my heart beats abnormally, in this case too quickly.”

The ravenet looked back at the shelf of medicines. 

All this meant that Green was constantly on the edge of death, avoiding it only by taking these medicines and going to the hospital quite often.

“It’s lucky I didn’t get Dad’s hemophilia,” sighed Green. “It skips generations, somehow, so Gramps didn’t get it, but his dad did.”

It was then that Red noticed the constant trembling.

He stepped forward and pressed two fingers to Green’s wrist—sure enough, the pulse was the cause of it, erratic and rapid.

“At any time,” said Green, “my heart might fail. The muscle is already weakened from so many years of this disease, so…just make sure you know where my Pokègear is, just in case, okay?”

Quietly, Red said, “Why didn’t you tell me before?”   
“I didn’t know,” Green replied. “I only found out a month after you left, because I suddenly fainted one day and they couldn’t feel a pulse. I had to be electrically shocked three times before my heart started up again, and even then I was so dizzy that I had to stay in the hospital for a long time.”

“Mom didn’t tell me,” said Red. “That’s why you stopped coming?”

“Yeah. She probably didn’t want to worry you. With, you know, you being on the top of a mountain and all. It’s not a huge leap, heh…” Green’s voice trailed off and he propped his head up on his hand, letting out a sigh. “Man, I’m dizzy. This sucks.”

Red said, “I’ll battle them.”

Green looked at him incredulously. “No. Are you stupid? Only the Gym Leader can…Oh my God—”

He keeled over, breathing heavily, and Red caught him. “Green! What’s wrong?”   
It was the loudest he’d been in five years.

Green reached up, staring blankly at the floor, and clutched at Red’s shirt. “Tunnel vision. Water. Quick.”

Red pushed Green back into the chair and grabbed the water bottle, then handed it to Green and pulled the Pokégear out of the brunet’s pocket.

He dialed the emergency number and said, “Gym Leader Green just fainted. I need an ambulance at the Viridian Gym.”

_ “Got it. An ambulance is being sent out right now. May I ask your name, sir?” _ _   
_ __ He paused.

“Red.”

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Green was taken to the hospital within a few minutes, and Red was questioned about what happened—he answered in as few words as possible, but was still quite overwhelmed by the end of it.

The only thing he could think about was Green, and whether the brunet was doing all right. Worry seemed to consume him from all sides, leaving him with no escape.

The abruptness with which Green had collapsed, the sudden loss of all composure, was what had worried Red the most. Strong, sturdy, steadfast Green, tumbling down like a rag doll, unable to control his own body—the moment had been a complete shock for Red, and now he couldn’t stop the stress from flooding his mind.

As he thought this, Blue sat down next to him in the hospital lobby.

“Hey, Red,” she said.

He looked up.

She didn’t seem to be affected by Green’s condition at all, sending an angry pang through Red’s chest, but he didn’t say anything.

“You shouldn’t worry so much,” she said, proving his suspicion correct, but then continued, “His doctor said just now that he’ll faint pretty often now, and get a ton of headaches, but they’ve nearly finished developing a medicine that’ll take that condition away.”

At those words, Red’s mind calmed, and it seemed to him as though the tsunami of emotions had settled into a calm ocean.

Blue smiled at him. “You’re really relieved about that, aren’t you?”

He nodded.

“It’s just that we’re not allowed to tell Green about it. He’ll start worrying about the fainting, and then he’ll end up getting even worse. When they give him the medication, it’ll stop completely, because what the tablet does is provide additional fuel for the bone marrow, which makes stem cells, and it also sends out a hormone that stabilizes the heartbeat. It’s really interesting.”

Blue’s eyes were sparkling by the time she finished this explanation, and Red smiled. “You like the medical field?”   
“I want to be a doctor someday,” Blue said with a grin. “The way they research the effects of different chemicals and then make them into things that can heal the diseased…it’s amazing.”   
“But…are you and Green…” Red couldn’t stop himself from asking. 

“Wait…did you think Green and I were together?” 

“Dunno,” he mumbled, staring at the floor.

“That’s ridiculous,” declared Blue. “He’s like my brother. If I were in a relationship with him…don’t get me wrong, but it would be really gross. He’s a weirdo, but we’re basically family, since his grandfather is…not the greatest parent in the world.”

Red nodded. Professor Oak was usually too caught up in his research to take care of Green, and so Red and Blue’s families were the ones who mainly provided for him. 

Just then, a doctor exited Green’s room and approached them.

“Is he okay?” Blue immediately asked, and the doctor nodded. 

“He’s doing well now. Fell asleep a minute ago, but he’ll wake up soon enough. Make sure he’s getting enough food and water, or this will get even more frequent.”

“Okay,” said Blue. “What can we do now, then?”

“Go home,” said the doctor. “Green will be fine. We’re planning to discharge him tomorrow if nothing serious happens.”

They stood up, and as they left Red sneaked a look into Green’s room.

He was asleep, curled up on the bed with a hand on his head. 

_ Sweet dreams, _ thought Red sadly as they walked out of the hospital.


	7. Falling and Fainting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Green reveals that he's actually very sick

The battle didn’t take long to finish—Green wasn’t quite in top form, so Gold knocked out his Pokémon quite easily.

“YES!” he shouted as soon as he OHKO’d Green’s Pidgeot—it let out a feeble squawk and then keeled over. 

Green returned it to its Poké Ball, rubbing his forehead—there was a headache brewing in his skull, and he wasn’t about to let it get any worse if he could help it.

Unfortunately, the masses of Trainers demanding a rematch were growing ever louder, so it was Red’s turn to help Green escape.

Quietly, Red tugged on the Gym Leader’s sleeve, pulling him to the back door and nudging him out…rather,  _ in _ , since there was another room behind it.

As he shut the door and locked it, Green murmured a thanks, sinking into a plush armchair. “Can you give me the ibuprofen?”

Red looked at the shelf of medicine blankly. All the containers looked the same…wait, why were there so many containers?  
“Green,” he said. “Why so much medicine?”  
“Migraines,” muttered Green. “Second shelf, third bottle from the left.”

Red found the bottle and handed it to him.

“Water.”

He grabbed a bottle of water sitting on a table and handed that to Green, too.

With a swig of water, Green downed two pills and gave the medicine back to Red. “Thanks.”

After two minutes of taking deep breaths, Green looked back at Red. “So, your question.”

Red nodded.

“I have severe anemia and sinus tachycardia,” said Green.

Red looked puzzled.

“Basically,” he continued, “I don’t have enough red blood cells, so I have to take a bunch of supplements and get blood transfusions every so often, because my body can’t produce enough cells on its own. If I don’t take these medicines, I’ll probably die.”

Red’s eyes widened. 

“And the sinus tachycardia means that my heart beats abnormally, in this case too quickly.”

The ravenet looked back at the shelf of medicines. 

All this meant that Green was constantly on the edge of death, avoiding it only by taking these medicines and going to the hospital quite often.

“It’s lucky I didn’t get Dad’s hemophilia,” sighed Green. “It skips generations, somehow, so Gramps didn’t get it, but his dad did.”

It was then that Red noticed the constant trembling.

He stepped forward and pressed two fingers to Green’s wrist—sure enough, the pulse was the cause of it, erratic and rapid.

“At any time,” said Green, “my heart might fail. The muscle is already weakened from so many years of this disease, so…just make sure you know where my Pokègear is, just in case, okay?”

Quietly, Red said, “Why didn’t you tell me before?”  
“I didn’t know,” Green replied. “I only found out a month after you left, because I suddenly fainted one day and they couldn’t feel a pulse. I had to be electrically shocked three times before my heart started up again, and even then I was so dizzy that I had to stay in the hospital for a long time.”

“Mom didn’t tell me,” said Red. “That’s why you stopped coming?”

“Yeah. She probably didn’t want to worry you. With, you know, you being on the top of a mountain and all. It’s not a huge leap, heh…” Green’s voice trailed off and he propped his head up on his hand, letting out a sigh. “Man, I’m dizzy. This sucks.”

Red said, “I’ll battle them.”

Green looked at him incredulously. “No. Are you stupid? Only the Gym Leader can…Oh my God—”

He keeled over, breathing heavily, and Red caught him. “Green! What’s wrong?”  
It was the loudest he’d been in five years.

Green reached up, staring blankly at the floor, and clutched at Red’s shirt. “Tunnel vision. Water. Quick.”

Red pushed Green back into the chair and grabbed the water bottle, then handed it to Green and pulled the Pokégear out of the brunet’s pocket.

He dialed the emergency number and said, “Gym Leader Green just fainted. I need an ambulance at the Viridian Gym.”

_“Got it. An ambulance is being sent out right now. May I ask your name, sir?”_ _  
_ He paused.

“Red.”

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Green was taken to the hospital within a few minutes, and Red was questioned about what happened—he answered in as few words as possible, but was still quite overwhelmed by the end of it.

The only thing he could think about was Green, and whether the brunet was doing all right. Worry seemed to consume him from all sides, leaving him with no escape.

The abruptness with which Green had collapsed, the sudden loss of all composure, was what had worried Red the most. Strong, sturdy, steadfast Green, tumbling down like a rag doll, unable to control his own body—the moment had been a complete shock for Red, and now he couldn’t stop the stress from flooding his mind.

As he thought this, Blue sat down next to him in the hospital lobby.

“Hey, Red,” she said.

He looked up.

She didn’t seem to be affected by Green’s condition at all, sending an angry pang through Red’s chest, but he didn’t say anything.

“You shouldn’t worry so much,” she said, proving his suspicion correct, but then continued, “His doctor said just now that he’ll faint pretty often now, and get a ton of headaches, but they’ve nearly finished developing a medicine that’ll take that condition away.”

At those words, Red’s mind calmed, and it seemed to him as though the tsunami of emotions had settled into a calm ocean.

Blue smiled at him. “You’re really relieved about that, aren’t you?”

He nodded.

“It’s just that we’re not allowed to tell Green about it. He’ll start worrying about the fainting, and then he’ll end up getting even worse. When they give him the medication, it’ll stop completely, because what the tablet does is…" Blue continued talking for a while and Red listened intently.

Blue’s eyes were sparkling by the time she finished this explanation, and Red smiled. “You like the medical field?”

  
“I want to be a doctor someday,” Blue said with a grin. “The way they research the effects of different chemicals and then make them into things that can heal the diseased…it’s amazing.”

"Yeah," said Red. Then a sudden thought struck him. “But…are you and Green…”

“Wait…did you think Green and I were together?” 

“Dunno,” he mumbled, staring at the floor.

“That’s ridiculous,” declared Blue. “He’s like a stupid little brother. If I were in a relationship with him…don’t get me wrong, but it would be really gross. He’s a weirdo, but we’re basically family, since his grandfather is…not the greatest parent in the world.”

Red nodded. Professor Oak was usually too caught up in his research to take care of Green, and so Red and Blue’s families were the ones who mainly provided for him. 

Just then, a doctor exited Green’s room and approached them.

“Is he okay?” Blue immediately asked, and the doctor nodded. 

“He’s doing well now. Fell asleep a minute ago, but he’ll wake up soon enough. Make sure he’s getting enough food and water, or this will get even more frequent.”

“Okay,” said Blue. “What can we do now, then?”

“Go home,” said the doctor. “Green will be fine. We’re planning to discharge him tomorrow if nothing serious happens.”

They stood up, and as they left Red sneaked a look into Green’s room.

He was asleep, curled up on the bed with a hand on his head. 

_ Sweet dreams, _ thought Red sadly as they walked out of the hospital.


	8. Ice Cream and Imagination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which i fool you with this happy title and give you a load of angst instead  
> getting on with the actual summary, Red realizes he's been a jerk to his family etc. and does not resolve this issue

The Grunts were piloting a thin, wide airship much like a paper airplane; the man with the black hair (let’s call him X) was extraordinarily dissatisfied with its design. He’d raised protests, filed complaints, even demanded that the head engineer himself build him a new ship.

Unfortunately for X, he was not much higher in rank than his own grunts; Pluie, the leader of TSU, was extraordinarily resistant to new ideas as _brilliant_ as X’s.

Rage swirled through him at the memory of the last conversation they’d had about the new ship design, in which Pluie had quite painfully reminded him that he wasn’t much higher in stature than a Grunt. He’d been ‘escorted’ out by a pair of guards.

Speaking of which, the Grunts still hadn’t found the boys’ weaknesses. He knew that Red was quite weak to electricity, despite having a Pikachu, but there was absolutely nothing on Green.

Sighing, he lay back in the swivel chair, wanting those _bloody_ grunts to hurry up already.

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Red and Blue were walking around the city while X fumed, looking for places to spend the day. There were plenty of shops in Viridian, so they didn’t have much of a struggle finding those; the problem was that Green’s collapse had dampened their spirits quite a bit.

“D’you want ice cream?” Blue asked, and Red nodded.

They turned right and went into a small ice cream shop; there was almost nobody there, given that it was 4:00 PM and people were probably busy closing up their own shops. In Viridian, one rarely met any person who didn’t own or co-own a business; there were very few people who simply worked for others.

Red looked at the list of flavors and picked mint chocolate chip; vaguely, he remembered that this used to be Green’s favorite.

Blue grinned at him. “Picking Green’s favorite ice cream, huh?”

Red blushed, and she laughed.

After buying the ice cream (Blue chose chocolate), they headed outside to sit at one of the tables. An awkward silence permeated the air.

“Listen,” said Blue, “are you all right?”  
Red looked up, surprised, and then nodded after a moment.

Blue pursed her lips. “You seem really down. You know Green will be fine, right?”

“Yeah,” said Red quietly, “but it still scared me.”

She smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it. The doctors have almost finished formulating that wonder drug, like I said. He’ll be out of hospital in no time.”

Red gave her a small smile back. She’d changed so much from when they were younger. Back then, she hadn’t been above manipulating others to get what she wanted, using whatever she already had to bribe people into helping her.

Quietly, Blue whispered, “Red, do you have a thing for Green?”

His face instantly heated, and she grinned. “I knew it.”  
Red looked away, pouting.

“You should tell him,” she continued. “It’s not good to keep your feelings bottled up, you know.”

“Can’t,” said Red quietly. “He’s…straight.”

“How do you know that?” Blue grinned, quirking an eyebrow. “Don’t make assumptions.”

Red looked at her, confused. “So he’s not?”  
“I’m not telling you,” she replied, crunching into the last bit of cone. “Go find out yourself.”  
He sighed and finished his ice cream.

The sun was setting now, so Red headed back to the Pokemon Center and booked a room for himself while Blue went back to her apartment.

“It’s not big enough for two people,” she explained apologetically. “I couldn’t afford any bigger than that, since I bought this place over a year ago.”  
Staring at the popcorn ceiling of the room, Red thought about whether Green really would understand his feelings. He’d always liked Green a lot, but after coming back down and seeing him again it was like he’d finally found his home.

Red reached into his bag and pulled out his red Pokégear; it hadn’t been used for three years, so he doubted it would still work. To his surprise, it booted up when he pressed the ON button, and displayed three _Happy Birthday_ notifications that never got delivered. The dates were from his first year on the mountain; one from his mom, one from Green, one from Blue. Green and his mother had called him; Blue had sent a text.

_Dear Red,_

_Happy birthday, stupid ice cube. I swear, all you do is sit on that mountain all day. Come on down, we’re having a party for you! If you don’t show up, we’re going to hold it without you and eat all your cake. :P_ _  
_ _Anyway, happy 11th birthday. I hope you have a great day, and if you don’t see this message, I’ll make some cake for you when you come down. Pay a visit once in awhile!_

_-Blue :-)_

Regret weighed him down like a boulder as he looked at the other two messages. His mom had left a short message for him.

_“Hey, Red dear. Come on down! We’re going to hold a party for you as soon as you come down._

_I miss you a lot, you know? There’s so little going on here, I get bored without someone to talk to._

_I hope you’re doing well. I’ve been sick on and off these past few weeks, so I didn’t want to risk going up the mountain and getting even worse._

_Please come down soon, hon. I miss you so much. I love you.”_

Red wanted to cry. Why hadn’t he paid attention? His mother’s health had gotten worse and worse, and he hadn’t even bothered.

Sniffling, Red looked at the last message; Green had also left a voicemail.

_“Hey, Red. It’s me, Green. It’s been a year now, right? Why don’t you come down? I…I miss you, dude. It’s no fun when you’re not around._

_…Isn’t the mountain cold? How do you live up there for so long? You should come down so your mom can make you some hot chocolate. She misses you a lot, and her health isn’t getting any better._

_This obviously isn’t gonna reach you, so…when you get this, just come down soon, okay? We all miss you._

_Happy 11th birthday, Red.”_

A whisper of something staticky followed that, and Red couldn’t quite make out what Green had said.

_“Come back soon…I ---”*crackle*_

That did it. Red was crying now, completely ashamed of himself. He’d spent so long on that mountain that he’d lost sight of the people he loved, let them deteriorate and not even cared.

Sobbing into his pillow, Red clutched the Pokégear to his chest. It was nearly ten, and everyone was asleep, but he couldn’t stop himself.

 _How could I have been so cruel?_ he thought. _I left my own mother to fall sick down here and didn’t visit her once. I left Blue, my very own best friend, and I left Green, the person I care about most in the entire world, and I didn’t go back for them even once. I didn’t think about how they’d feel…I’m such a horrible person. I need to go apologize tomorrow._

As the thoughts swirled around his head, he drifted off to sleep, the pillow wet with his tears, the Pokegear showing a written transcript of Green’s message.

The very last sentence was blurred out, staticky, like it had sounded; the letters were impossible to see individually.


	9. Darkness and Doctors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which the chapter title is accurate for the actual tone of this chapter. the second attack.

Green woke up to the darkness, such a deep inky black that he thought he was dead for a second.

Then he felt his heart beating weakly in his chest, and heaved a sigh of relief.

_ I must have collapsed, _ he realized. 

_ Again. _

He was getting worried now. How much more was he going to faint like this? It had gotten more and more frequent recently…

What if he fainted one day and…never woke up?

He shook his head, clenching his fists. That wouldn’t happen. He wouldn’t let it happen. Red had finally come back. Green wasn’t going to let himself die right afterwards.

That wasn’t a nice ending at all.

He checked the small clock on the nightstand.  _ 5:30 A.M. _

He’d probably been out for hours. Why waste more time sleeping?

Suddenly one of the heart monitors down the hall flatlined, a long beep that sent a shiver through Green’s body. Who was it? 

Doctors rushed in, the light in that room flashing on. 

One doctor swore. “He’s gone. Call the next of kin.”

Fear shot through Green’s body. It could have been someone he knew.

“Who is it?”

“Jones from the piano shop. His cousin, Amelia.”

“Oh, right. Calling her.”

_ Jones from the piano shop. _ The kindly man who’d run it for twenty years, taking over after the original owner, Schmidt, moved away.

Jones from the piano shop, dead.

Green’s heart rate was shooting through the roof and one of the doctors heard it. He approached Green’s room, footsteps clacking on the tiled floor.

“Green,” he said, opening the door, “are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” whispered Green. 

“That sort of heart rate is dangerous. Here—” the doctor handed him a bottle of pills— “take one. It’ll slow you down a bit.”

Green nodded, taking the bottle with trembling fingers and downing a pill. It took a few minutes to take effect, but soon his heartbeat was slower and less forceful.

The door to his room was still open, so Green got up, holding onto the bed frame for support and slowly walking down the hall.

“Can I leave,” he began, but another doctor held up a finger. 

“One day of complete bed rest,” he said.

“I’m a Gym Leader,” reminded Green.

“Show me you can walk the whole length of this hall, without support, and then we’ll see about you being discharged.”

Green groaned. He knew he couldn’t do it.

But he let go of the railing along the wall anyway, and started to walk.

His legs were about to give out. His chest ached. 

Halfway through the hallway, he collapsed.

“See,” said the doctor, “one day of complete bed rest. You need it, Green.”

Green slammed his fist into the ground.  _ Dammit! _

“I’ll take him to another room,” said the doctor who had given Green the pills. He looked unfamiliar, but he seemed nice enough. “Too much going on down here. Come on, Green.”

Slinging Green’s arm over his shoulder, the doctor led him up a flight of stairs…then another, and another, until Green got really suspicious.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Another room, I told you. All these floors are full.”

“This is the stairway to the rooftop,” said Green, jerking out of the “doctor”’s grip and slumping against the wall. “You aren’t taking me any further.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” smiled the man, grabbing Green’s wrist and dragging him up the stairs. Green grabbed a handrail and held on for dear life, opening his mouth to scream, but—

“Bellsprout, use Sleep Powder.”

_ Shoot! _ Green panicked, throwing himself down the stairs in an attempt to escape, but the spores had already reached him and he felt the world fading around him.

_ This can’t be happening… _

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Red woke with a start.  _ Something’s wrong. _

It was 6 in the morning. What could have happened?

His Pokédex suddenly rang, loud and sharp in the dim light.

He picked it up. “What happened? Blue?”

_ “Red, thank God. Green’s been taken from the hospital. Apparently some unfamiliar doctor said he was going to take Green to a new room, and then made off with him from a helicopter on the rooftop. It’s definitely TSU. We have to go find them.” _

All this came out in a rush of words, and Red said, “Where are they?”

_ “I was given new information from the police. Apparently they’re located in the Unova region. The International Police are planning to storm the area, but we need to wait until Green arrives there, so I convinced them to let you and I accompany them.” _

“I’ll be outside soon.”

His face hardened, and he felt the familiar urge to fight surging through his blood. Pika, sleeping in the corner, suddenly woke up, its ears pricking as it mewled “Pii?”

Red disappeared into the bathroom, emerging minutes later fully dressed. A drop of water dangled from his hair; he flicked it away.

“Pika,” he said. It looked up at him. “Come on.”

A text came in from Blue.  _ I’m at the northern exit. See you in 5? _

_ Yeah, _ he responded.

“We’ve got battles to fight,” he smiled quietly at Pika, his eyes shining bright crimson in the early-dawn light. 

The Pokémon was momentarily stunned by the bloodlust in its Trainer’s eyes, but then chirped along and jumped on his shoulder as he walked out of the Pokémon Center.

_ I’m coming, Green. _


	10. Meetings and Methods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which haikyuu!! characters make a cameo, the plot progresses a little, and we are all very sad

Darkness, again.

Green sat up. The ground seemed to shift under him, and then he realized he wasn’t actually on the ground. The loud yet muffled whirring above his head told him he was in a helicopter, or at least an aircraft of some sort.

He made to stand, but cuffs around his hands yanked him back down as the chain links clanked. His legs were cuffed as well, and the thick metal rings didn’t seem to be coming off any time soon.

Swearing profusely, Green sat back down. What could he do? His pockets were empty and there was nothing nearby that he could use to call anyone for help.

Was there anything at all he could use to escape? Anything? He looked around in a sudden wave of panic, the narrow walls seeming to close in on him. He was trapped in a box, Arceus knew how high above the ground.

The thoughts whirling about his mind seemed to settle in a dreadful silence as he realized there was really nothing he could do. The only course of action was to wait quietly as he was brought to his fate.

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Blue was dressed warmly, with thick pants and a parka and boots, and she frowned at Red’s light clothing. “Red, we’re going to Unova, you know. It’s not as warm as Kanto over there.”

“I was on a mountain,” he reminded her, and she grimaced at him before setting off towards the police station of Viridian.

“Fine, but as soon as we get there, you’re buying a jacket. I’m feeling cold just looking at you. Oh, and hair dye, because we’re going to be in disguise.”

“Hm.” It wasn’t agreement on Red’s part, but it wasn’t disagreement either.

It wasn’t long before they reached the police station. A man in a tan trench coat greeted them. “Hello. My name…rather, my codename, it is Looker. It is what they all call me.” His eyes shifted to Red, and the tiniest flicker of a smile sparkled in his dark eyes even though his lips were not remotely close to turning upward. “I see that the Champion has descended from his mountain. You will, most definitely, help us in this case, yes?”

Red nodded silently.

Looker turned to Blue and bowed lightly. “Hello, Miss Blue—”

“Just Blue is fine—”

“—It’s quite all right. We found a new lead in Unova. You informed the Champion here, about this case, I am assuming?”  
“Yes, I told him about Green’s abduction,” replied Blue. “They’re best friends, after all.”

Looker’s face grew even more solemn, if that was possible. “Best friends? That relationship must have been strained very much by your absence, I think, is that right?”

Again, Red nodded, this time letting out a quiet “Yeah.”

“Mm. I hope the two of you become close again.”

 _Me too,_ thought Red.

“Anyway, enough talking,” said Looker. “Let’s go. The jet’s waiting.”

“Jet—?!” sputtered Blue. “As in, private jet?”

“How else did you think we were going to get there, Miss Blue?” murmured Looker, puzzled.

“Taking a normal plane or something, like a regular person,” pointed out Blue. “It would be a lot easier to keep up the disguise.”

“True,” replied Looker, “but speed is priority. I shall consult you on keeping up the disguise while we take the jet, however, because I do indeed want to know how to avoid being spotted by other people, and you seem like a very intelligent young girl. Let us go.”

Blue smiled at the compliment and followed Looker with Red close on her heels.

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

The flight passed without incident, and Blue woke up as soon as the jet landed. Rain splattered on the windows and she pulled up her hood.

She looked at Red, and was surprised to see that he was just as alert as he had been when they took off. “Did you stay up all night?”

Red looked at her and nodded. Pika chirped.

“Weirdo,” she said, ruffling Red’s hair as the pilot declared it safe to disembark. The boy just looked away uncomfortably.

He wasn’t the same. Obviously, he didn’t talk as much, but there was something irreversibly changed about him, and Blue didn’t like it at all. He used to be so energetic, darting about all over the place and defeating every Trainer he found. Now he was…faceless, voiceless, seeming to be a mere shell. Arceus knew if he even thought the same way he used to.

 _When did this start?_ she wondered, and then remembered the first time she saw him on TV looking like this. Right after defeating Green, Red had been swarmed by press, his rival shoved out of the room with tears streaming down his face as the new Champion looked on in horror. A moment later, he’d pulled his cap low over his eyes, pushing aside the reporters and storming out of the building. The last footage they had of him was when he ran into Route 28, jumping ledges and running for Mount Silver as though his life depended on it.

That was it. Defeating Green must have caused this. Blue decided that the first thing she would do upon finding Green was force him to kiss Red. That would most likely fix things, considering the incredible romantic tension between them.

A wicked smirk made its way onto her face at the thought, and Looker flinched. “Miss Blue? Are you all right?”  
“I’m fine,” she said, the smirk staying on her face. This would be entertaining.

 _What about a_ **_French_ ** _kiss?_ suggested her inner fangirl, and she nearly squealed.

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Once they were off the plane and out of the airport, Red took a deep breath of the Unova air. It was a strange mix of winter cold, leftover tropical warmth, and humidity.

He reached up, patting his head absentmindedly. The lack of his iconic hat left him feeling rather lost.

“Here,” said Looker, stopping in front of a small, unassuming house with the name _Kageyama_ etched into the new-looking nameplate. “This is where my informant lives. He’s also very good with disguises. Blue, we’ll go with what we discussed on the plane, yes?”

“Yeah,” nodded Blue, and Looker rang the doorbell. Immediately, the door flew open, and a grumpy-looking twentysomething man with a dark bowl cut stormed up.

“Yeah?!” the man growled, dark blue eyes narrowing. “Whaddya want?”

“I think we both know why I’m here, no?” asked Looker simply, and the man turned around.

“Come on.”

Inside, the man poured them all cups of tea and set out a small bowl of Pokémon food for Pika, inviting them to sit down on the plush brown sofas in the living-room. A window behind one of the sofas cast a gray, rainy light over the whole room.

“What’s happened?” said the man, still very grumpy-looking. “Haven’t heard anything from Interpol lately.”

“New case,” says Looker. “Gym Leader Green Oak of the Kanto region was kidnapped recently. We’re off to find him.”

The man’s eyes passed over all three of them before settling on Red. “You. Champion of Kanto?”

Red hesitated, and then slowly nodded.

“Don’t enjoy that title, I suppose,” said the man, and Red nodded immediately this time. “Man of few words?”

“Definitely,” sighed Blue. “Anyway. Looker said you were good with disguises. I came up with a plan on the way here for the different identities we can adopt.”

“Show me,” said the man.

Red was rather tired of referring to him as ‘the man’ in his head. “What’s your name?”

The man seemed to soften. “Kageyama. That’s all I’m telling you.”

Blue reached into her bag and pulled out three pieces of paper, upon which she had drawn in detail numerous disguises they could wear, all neatly labeled. Red found himself straining to see more of her drawings. She was incredible.

Kageyama looked at Blue with a newfound respect. “These are…fantastic. D’you mind if I hire you on Interpol’s behalf?”

“I’m only 14, and I already have a good job,” she said sheepishly. “Maybe later.”

“Still. You’re really good at this. Name?”

“Blue.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

Kageyama grabbed a notebook and scribbled her name down. “Current occupation?”

“Gym Trainer at the Viridian City gym,” she replied. “Kanto.”

“Ah. Is that why you’re searching for Leader Green?”

“Yes.”

“Hm. Well, I’ll get to work on these. Make yourselves comfortable.” He padded up the stairs and disappeared into another room.

Red sipped his tea; it had cooled to an acceptable temperature. He turned and looked out the window. The rain had turned to hail and was now pounding down on the rooftops, little white crystals bouncing onto the road.

He studied the room. Warm colors everywhere, mostly dark browns and reds. He got the feeling that not only Kageyama lived here; despite the house’s small size, it was still too big for only one person to inhabit. Not to mention the old, yellowed volleyball posters plastered over one side of the room.

Or maybe it was just the fact that he’d lived in a cave for three years, he reminded himself. Kageyama could be into volleyball; that was perfectly reasonable.

A few minutes passed, and Kageyama came back downstairs. “I have them ready. Come on up.”

As they followed him up to the second floor, Red whispered to Looker, “Does anyone else live here?”

Looker gave him a solemn, sad look. “He used to, yes. Not anymore.”

A sudden flash of orange out of the corner of Red’s eye sent him whirling around on the top step. There was a young man with spiky orange hair—around Kageyama’s age or perhaps slightly younger, wearing a black-and-orange jersey—disappearing into the kitchen. His movements were completely silent.

“Hey,” Red said quietly. “Who was that?”  
“Who?” Looker’s brow creased.

“There was a boy. Orange hair.”

Looker blanched; he shook his head slowly. “Like I said. No one else lives here.”

And suddenly, Red knew. The posters were old. The nameplate was new. The house was too big for just one person. He’d just seen an apparition moving around. The other man who lived here “used to, yes. Not anymore.”

As he looked at Kageyama with a suddenly aching heart, the man gave him a soft, sad smile and turned away wordlessly.


	11. Climbing and Clashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Red climbs Celestial Tower

Kageyama handed them the exact disguises that Blue had come up with; she stared at him. “How did you find these so easily?”

In response, Kageyama simply opened a door in the side of the room; Blue ran to it and let out a cry of amazement. Piles upon piles of clothes, all kinds of clothes, neatly organized by color and type, filled a room that stretched all the way down from the second floor to ground level. A small elevator operated with cranks and pulleys would allow someone to reach any of these clothes at any time. 

“This is awesome!” gasped Blue. “So this is why you live here.”

“I love this house,” said Kageyama. “Good for business. Not leaving it anytime soon. Anyway, you people should get changed and be on your way. Green is first priority, not relaxing.” He walked out of the room.

Looker and Red followed him, and Blue sighed, picking up her bundle of clothes and shutting the door as they went downstairs. She’d picked out thick dark blue pants, a white turtleneck shirt, and a black jacket. She tied up her hair and tucked it into a dark blue newsboy cap.

After changing, she stepped out and the other two males took turns putting on their disguises; Red emerged first, looking quite uncomfortable in the charcoal-gray and light-blue ensemble that Blue had chosen for him. Pika looked at him and shook its head disapprovingly.

Red seemed to agree. “Why these colors?” he muttered, pulling at the light gray buttons of his snug coat. “So dull.”

“That’s the point,” said Blue. “If you’re wearing red, that’s going to make you stand out.”

He nodded quietly, still looking a bit like a fish out of water, but there was nothing Blue could do about that. 

Looker was wearing shabby-looking clothes that made him seem a lot older than he actually was; a few days without shaving and he’d be unrecognizable. 

Blue grinned. This would work.

“All right,” said Kageyama. “Get outta my house.”

“Thank you for having us over,” said Blue, attempting a smile. “You were a big help.”

He nodded. 

As they walked out of the house, Blue caught Kageyama mumbling, “Thanks for coming.”

She smiled a little and went out after Looker and Red.

“We are headed to the Pokémon League,” said Looker outside. “We will, there, contact every Gym Leader in the region and send out search parties. I have already sent a message to Skyla to perform an air search. Unfortunately, we cannot fly to the Pokémon League, as air travel there is not permitted. Ever since Team Plasma infiltrated two years ago…the place is under very tight surveillance. So, we will be traveling by foot.”

“Can’t we just fly to the nearest city to the League and walk the rest of the way?” Blue asked.

“There aren’t any other airfields, unfortunately,” sighed Looker. “And the Pokémon cannot fly to any city they do not know. It will be a long journey. Come, let us begin.”

Blue sighed as well, and walked after them.

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

Red stared off into the distance as he walked, his mind far away. Was Green okay? What was TSU planning to do with him? What if they were—

“Red,” said Blue. “Snap out of it. You’re going the wrong way.”

With a start, Red realized that he’d taken a wrong turn and was now heading into a dead-end patch of tall grass. He turned around and rejoined the others, one hand rubbing at his temples. He nearly stumbled and fell off the raised walkway, but barely managed to keep his balance.

He didn’t like this region. It was too new, too clean-cut, without the wild simplicity of Kanto. The weather was cold and dry, and even the rain and snow brought no humidity. He wet his chapped lips.

Goosebumps rose on Red’s skin, and he shivered. There was something bad on this route. Something not quite physical, and with a dark, smothering heaviness about it. It reminded him of the Pokémon Tower, but a little different.

“Wait,” said Blue as the heaviness grew stronger. “We should stop at Celestial Tower to pay our respects.”

_ Celestial Tower. _ That must be it. 

They reached what seemed to be the northern end of the route, and Red shuddered again. The serene, spiraling tower loomed up before him, clouds swirling around the very top of it. Small blue flowers bloomed around its base, their petals encrusted with fine frost and their leaves wilted in the cold.

“Well,” said Looker. “Let’s go inside.”

As they entered, Red reached down and picked a few flowers, holding them gingerly to his chest.

The air was cold and still, heavy with grief, with the voids that once-living companions had left behind. None of them dared say a word; it was far too silent. 

Graves, so many graves. Pika came quietly out of its Poké Ball, sensing its trainer’s fear, and nuzzled his cheek as it climbed onto his shoulder.  _ I’m here,  _ it seemed to say.

“Pika,” whispered Red, his eyes prickling with hot tears as he gently lifted the little creature into his arms. “Please don’t leave.”

It made a soft, comforting noise and nuzzled him again.

They ascended the tower quietly. Red laid flowers by the entrance of each floor, and when they reached the top, he had only one left.

The clouds swirled coldly around him, leaving condensed drops all over his arms. Red was abruptly reminded of when he decided to come down from the mountain.

So much had happened since then. A pang of dull pain shot through Red’s chest. Green,  _ Green.  _ They had to save him. 

“Let’s ring it,” said Looker quietly, “together.”

They stepped forward silently. Red, Blue, and Looker all wrapped their hands around the rope, then pulled back. 

A strong, resounding G reverberated through the air. Red felt it deeply, vibrating through his bones. A quiet harmonic floated above, a B-flat to temper the happiness. Green’s favorite key. “ _ G for Green,” _ he’d laughed. 

“ _ Why minor?” Red asked. “Why not major?” _

__ _ “Ah, I don’t know,” the nine-year-old Green muttered. “I just like sad tunes more than happy ones.” _

“ _ You’re weird.” Red looked away, then lit up in excitement and turned back. “I like all the keys! Except C. C’s boring.” _

__ _ “You’re right about that.” Green snickered. “If you were a musical key, you’d be C.” _

__ _ “Oh yeah? Well, you’d be D! D for dumb!” Red stuck his tongue out.  _

__ _ “F for freaky!” _

__ _ “B for butthead!” _

__ _ “G for genius!” _

__ _ “I thought we were insulting each other,” muttered Red. _

__ _ “I’m just stating facts.” Green harrumphed and looked away. _

__ _ Red grinned so wide that Green began smiling as well. _

G for genius. Red let himself smile, just a little bit. 

_ And you, Green, you’re my favorite key. A, for amazing. _

The bell’s sound faded, and Red stepped back, laying his last flower underneath it. 

“Let’s go,” said Blue. “We don’t have any more time to spend. We’ll cross Twist Mountain and Icirrus City, and then we’ll get to the League. The faster we move, the faster we get to Green.”

“Understood,” replied Looker. “Let us go!”

 

°º°º°º°º°º°

 

They spent a while inside Twist Mountain (which was aptly named), but finally managed to get out later in the afternoon. After quickly healing their Pokémon and exiting Icirrus City, they traveled through the confusing Route 8, crossed the vibrating Tubeline Bridge, zoomed across Route 9, and, at last, entered Opelucid City.

“Whoa,” whispered Blue. “What an amazing city.”

“It is certainly very beautiful,” agreed Looker. “It reminds me of a time long past.”

“Long past?” frowned Blue. “What do you mean? This is one of the most technologically advanced places I’ve ever seen.”

“Much to the contrary,” said Looker, perplexed. “I see a beautiful, ancient town that seems to have been around for hundreds of years.”

“Red,” asked Blue, “what do you see?”

“Both,” said Red quietly. “Moving makes it change.”

Blue and Looker exchanged a glance, then looked around again and shrugged.

“Anyway,” said Looker, “we should go to the local Pokémon Center, yes? It is already dark, and attempting to venture into a route at this time can only lead to trouble. Tomorrow, our destination will be Humilau City, which is quite far from here, so we must get rest.”

There was a strange heat in Red’s chest, and he shook his head. “I’ll keep going.”

“Red, no,” said Blue. “We need to stay together.”

“Why?” asked Red. “We’ll meet at the League.”

Blue’s fists clenched. “Red, you can’t just keep leaving us behind like this!”

“I’m not!”

“You’ve always done this!” Blue was already beginning to cry and she hated it. “Now, three years ago, the St. Anne, the Indigo League, it’s always been this way! We try to join you and you just leave us in the dust!”

“Calm down,” boomed Looker. “Both of you are arguing like little children. You’re fourteen, for heaven’s sakes, get ahold of yourselves! Red, you must stay with us. This is a new region. You don’t know your way around, and neither do we. Getting lost is absolutely not an option.”

“I want to save Green,” whispered Red, his own eyes stinging. “That’s all.”

“And we will,” Looker said quietly, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “It’s better to go after Green with a clear mind and a rested body. What if TSU fights you? Going without rest, the way you’re planning to, will only lead to defeat and tightened security.”

Silently, Red nodded, and they headed to the Pokémon Center. His fists balled at his sides as they walked.  _ I’m sorry, _ he thought, over and over, but when he tried to say those words his heart seized up in fear. They wouldn’t forget the pain he caused them. Of course they wouldn’t. 

Saying sorry wouldn’t fix anything.


End file.
